Early American banjo music is Black music. The banjo was created by enslaved African Americans, and according to the Smithsonian Institute, up until the 1830s, the banjo was exclusively an African ...

Biographical and descriptive notes by Kenneth S. Goldstein on slipcase. Performer(s): Obray Ramsey, George Pegram, Harry West, "Aunt" Samantha Bumgarner, banjo ; with accompanying instrumentalists.

Beyonce’s hit “Texas Hold ’Em” opens with a beat seldom heard on hip-hop tracks: the unmistakable clip-clop of a four-stringed clawhammer banjo. It comes via folk icon Rhiannon Giddens, who was ...

Beyoncé's surprise new country album has kicked open the saloon doors to a new audience. While this may not be Beyoncé's first rodeo when it comes to country music, people are now exploring the genre ...

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with researcher Joe Johnson and musician Jake Blount about the new Library of Congress guide to African American banjo music resources in its collection. A new generation of ...

I took a break from the late-night gigs and got a job at Werlein's music store. There were a couple of banjos hanging up with the guitars and it was my job to take care of them. As I was cleaning one ...

Earl Scruggs’ seminal 1949 instrumental “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” placed the banjo front and center in the bluegrass genre. Along with guitarist partner Lester Flatt, Scruggs recorded more than 50 ...

How do we reclaim something that has been lost? That is a question that artist Hannah Mayree is on a lifelong journey to answer through their work with the banjo. The banjo is seen as quintessentially ...

A banjo player named for three classical composers, Béla Anton Leos Fleck celebrates both bluegrass and classical sounds with his original music, to be performed in the New Orleans area from Jan. 8-10 ...